Revelation Chapter 12
Originally posted Wednesday December 24, 2008
Revelation, Chapter 12:1-6 The Woman and the Dragon
John introduces a
new vision with a new cast of characters. Although this vision is new and takes
us in another direction, it is understood as a retrospective view of the
cosmic/earthly events that have come before the pronouncement of 11:15which acknowledges that the
kingdom of the world has always been ruled by God and now this reign is shared
with the Messiah. The events of Chapter 12 represent the desperate state of
affairs in the world because of the resistance of the forces of evil against
God's people, both the old and new Israel.
To interpret
the significance of the drama taking place between the woman and the red dragon
we need to understand the Greek mythology on which the vision is based and
which would be known to every Greek and Roman child. We will recall that
Domitian, the Emperor during the time in which Revelation was written, styled himself
after the god Apollo. The island of Patmos where John was in exile is close to
the island of Delos, where Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto was born. The
dragon Python the demon and guardian of the abyss of Delphi rebelled
against Zeus and sought to kill the child so Leto fled. When Apollo grew he
returned to Delphi and killed the dragon. The ancient myth is
part of the lore of many cultures representing the warfare of the forces
of chaos, darkness and death with the divine powers of light, order, and life. It
is the classic tale of good versus evil on the cosmic level. The myth was
adopted and adapted by Roman Emperors who played the role of Apollo bringing
political order and peace (Pax Romana) through military victory over the
enemies of the gods. Nero erected statues of himself fashioned as a god after
Apollo the god of light. The Roman citizen could identify with the characters
in the presentation. The woman is the goddess Roma, queen of heaven; the
Emperor is the divine son of Apollo who establishes order and the dragon is the
power of chaos who opposes goodness and peace.
John has used the
mythical characters known to Christians as well as Hellenistic Jews and
pagans to portray the age old battle between the serpent (Python) and the
people of God, between good and evil. As Christians we will be tempted to see
the woman in hard labor as Mary and the son who will rule as Jesus the Messiah
who is taken up into heaven. John has identified the red dragon/serpent as
Satan (vs.9). We could point to the
story of Jesus' birth as told in Matthew. The child Jesus is hunted by the evil
king Herod and an angel warns Joseph who flees with mother and
child to Egypt (the desert). We could tell the story of Jacob's
(Israel's) children traveling to Egypt where their offspring became
slaves to the Pharaoh/serpent but were delivered by God and escaped into the
desert. In John's vision the woman is this and more than this. She is no
less than Eve, the mother of all humanity that has been the hunted prey of
the prowling serpent since the Garden of Eden. She is represented as
the queen of heaven, clothed with the sun, wearing a crown of twelve stars. Her
birthpangs are the times of tribulation - the human struggle waiting
for the time of judgment (Rom.
8:22; Isa. 66:7).
The red dragon, as
noted by John, is Satan. He represents all the historic forces of evil. He
is Ephesians' "principalities, powers, rulers of the present darkness
and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." He is Paul's "prince
of the power of the air." He is the Old Testament's Leviathan, the enemy
of light. He seeks to devour the children of Eve throughout the ages. John
represents his power with Daniel's beast of ten horns (Dan. 7:7) and the seven heads of the ancient chaos monster of
Mesopotamian mythology. He is so large and powerful that a swish of his tail
sweeps away a third of the stars. Taken together the dragon becomes the
metaphor for all the forces opposed to God since the beginning of time.
The dragon attempts
to devour the woman's son who is destined to reign over all nations (Ps. 2:9). But he is saved and taken up
into heaven. The woman flees into the wilderness and is protected by God for
1,260 days, the symbolic time of the tribulation. Here John extends the role of
the woman and she becomes the church, the ideal community of God's
children in the wilderness as the faithful who are sealed and thus
protected through the tribulation and possibly martyrdom.
Revelation, Chapter 12:7-12 Michael Defeats the Dragon
God's act in saving
the child and hiding the mother provokes a war in heaven between
Michael with his angels and the dragon with his demon angels. Michael
wins the war and the dragon, along with his demon angels, are cast out of
heaven and "thrown down to the earth." The heavenly victory erupts
into a celebration of the defeat of the dragon/Satan. Salvation (judgment)
and the power of the kingdom of God under the authority of Christ have come and
the "accuser" (Job 1:9; Zech.
3:1) of the faithful has been conquered through their testimony
(witness) to Christ even unto death. There is a down side to this casting out
of the dragon and his minions. The heavenly war of good versus evil comes
to earth.
Revelation, Chapter 12:13-18 The Dragon Fights Against the
Earth
The woman who has
been in the protective wilderness is now the faithful church continuing to
witness to her faith in Christ. She has now become the prey of the
fallen angels. The defeated dragon pursues her but once again she escapes
back to the protective wilderness, this time with the assistance of two
great eagle's wings (Exod. 19:4). In
an attempt to sweep her away a great flood of water came from the dragon's
mouth (an adaptation of Isa. 59:19) but the earth itself opens
and swallows the river. With this second defeat the dragon turns his attention
to the woman's "children," the faithful community who live godly
lives following God's commandments and persevering in their faith in Christ.
The war against the
woman/community of the faithful is not yet over. The final judgment has not yet
been fulfilled. The dragon/Satan has allies - two beasts, one from
the sea and one from the earth. The battle intensifies.
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Note:
All Jewish
and Christian apocalyptic literature, including Revelation, has
as its guiding world view the overwhelming presence of evil in
the world - the reign of Satan, in conflict with the human remnant of the godly
faithful. The struggle is seen in cosmic proportions with the forces of God
arrayed against the forces of Satan. Humanity has a limited impact in deciding
the outcome. God and Satan are the major players and the total number of
adherents to one or the other is irrelevant to the outcome. The outcome has
already been decided. John would say it was decided before the battle
began. The outcome will be in God's favor. It will accrue to the remnant
faithful that perseveres, that refuses, even on pain of exile,
rejection by society and family, marginalization, abandonment or death, to
accommodate themselves to the world's prevailing standards and values. Those
who "cling" to faith, who see a higher calling to the reign of
God in and through Christ, and believe that true righteousness is not
defined by doctrinal lists but is "doing justice, loving
kindness and walking humbly with God" will, as John puts it, conquer the
world and walk with Christ.
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